Birr make history in FAI Junior Cup

BIRR Town created history on Sunday when they reached the last 32 of the FAI Junior Cup for the first time.

Birr won the match with goals from their deadly strike force of Nicky Molloy and Johnny Corboy but the victory was built on a tremendous team performance.

The match against the Waterford side started at a high pace with Villa arguably shading it without creating any chances.

Slowly but surely Town were getting on top and moving the ball very well around the pitch.

On 36 minutes the CCFL Senior Division team went ahead after winning a free kick 25 yards from the Villa goal and Johnny Corboy hit a sublime strike to the corner of the net.

This lead goal spurred the Birr boys to move into an even higher gear and they doubled their lead on 40 minutes.

The irrepressible Corboy pounced on a mistake at the back and raced away to finish brilliantly.

The score remained 2-0 at the interval and when play resumed Town kept the tempo very high and didn’t let Villa settle into the game.

To the delight of the home crowd Birr made it 3-0 in the 65th minute.

Villa tried a back-pass to their goalkeeper and when David Cox put the pressure on the netminder kicked the ball straight to Nicky Molloy 30 yards out and he beat the defender and chipped the ball into an empty net.

With seven minutes left Villa pulled a goal back when an outstretched Birr defender turned the ball into his own net but Town held on in the time that remained.

On an historical day for the club there were super performances from Joe Kelly, Keith McEvoy and Barry Harding but the man of the match award went to the outstanding Ceilim King who terrorised the Waterford team all day.